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Welcome to the official Netflix blog. The authors of this blog are various members of the Netflix team, proud to be helping change the way people watch television and delivering on the promise of Internet TV. This blog is a place for us to share some of what we are doing.

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Friday, May 2, 2014

In chapter 1 of House of Cards, Frank Underwood famously tells Stamper to "Look at the bigger picture." With House of Cards season 2, that bigger picture is here! The best quality video in the world is now streaming via the Internet.

We’re excited about the picture quality we’re seeing in Ultra HD 4K, and we’re even more excited that expert reviewers of the first TVs capable of streaming Netflix Ultra HD 4K, including the Samsung HU8550 and HU9000, seem to agree. This is just the the beginning, expect more TVs that support Netflix in Ultra HD 4K in stores soon from Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio. If you buy one of these new TVs, just connect it to a power outlet and the internet, turn it on and sign into Netflix. Ultra HD 4K streaming will work out of the box.

To get the highest quality Netflix experience in Ultra HD 4K, we recommend available bandwidth of at least 20Mbps. This provides enough throughput for the stream, which is about 16Mbps, plus headroom for service variability. And speaking of variability, there are many things that can affect the data throughput to a specific device on your home network. One of those variables is how a broadband provider chooses to handle incoming bits from Netflix. Any broadband provider that’s directly connected to Netflix will deliver a better experience, especially during primetime.

Market researchers predict that consumers will buy a million Ultra HD 4K TVs this year and even more in subsequent years. We expect it will likely take up to 5 years before Ultra HD 4K becomes mainstream; when most of the TVs on store shelves are Ultra HD 4K.

Today, our catalog of Ultra HD 4K movies and shows is small but packs a punch: the second season of the Emmy Award winning show House of Cards, and several nature films from noted photographer and filmmaker Louie Schwarztberg.

Later this year, we expect to add another multi Emmy Award winning show Breaking Bad, and more Netflix original productions. As more content producers shift their production and mastering to create Ultra HD 4K output, and more Ultra HD 4K TVs are in the market, we’ll bring more of that content to you.

What’s Next?

We’re excited about bringing you Ultra HD 4K, but it’s been a joint effort with our partners to create the TVs, the streaming tech, and the shows we all love. We’ve all worked hard to design products and produce shows that support the broader feature set of Ultra HD 4K. This, of course, includes the Ultra High Definition 3840x2160 resolution, and 10-bit color precision, but also framerates up to 60 frames per second and richer colors.

Fellow AV geeks... we know you want more details on the tech behind Netflix Ultra HD 4K. In a future post on the Netflix Tech Blog, we’ll share some of those details with you. In the mean time, on behalf of everyone at Netflix who worked on delivering Ultra HD 4K, enjoy the bigger picture!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Around the world our members stream a lot of shows and movies onto their televisions, through a Smart TV app or through TV-connected devices such as game consoles, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players. In fact, the majority of the more than one billion hours our members watch each month is done on a TV.

Today we are excited to unveil the biggest update in Netflix history to our TV experience. This update improves the Netflix TV for Netflix members around the world and for the first time extends rich features to platforms such as Roku, Smart TV and Blu-ray players as well as PlayStation and Xbox 360.

More than a year and half in the making, this new experience evolved through a process of design exploration, iteration and testing that extended throughout all parts of the Netflix TV experience. We set out to deliver an update that would make it even easier to discover something great to watch and we think we succeeded.

After starting Netflix, you’ll immediately notice the cinematic and rich visual experience. As you navigate, three large images for each show and movie provide much more context about a title. We also added a shorter, more descriptive synopsis as well as personalized information to provide more detail about why you should watch a specific title. This personalized information can be based on your social network, viewing history or taste preferences.

As you look at the details of a particular title, you’ll see a broader synopsis and more detail on the cast. For TV shows we have added a refined episode selector that uses images for each episode along with a synopsis.

Searching for something specific? Search is now much more visual, designed for use on TV screens and providing results for titles as well as for actors and directors.

Our popular section for kids also has the new design. The kids area also uses a subtle blue background and subtle “kids” label so parents see from a distance that kids are using the appropriate part of Netflix. This update also extends the kids experience to Roku and some Smart TVs for the first time.

A redesign of post-play, the feature that automatically starts the next episode of a TV show or shows recommendations after watching a movie

The updated Netflix TV experience rolls out globally beginning on Nov. 13 and will take about two weeks to reach all devices. The update will go to devices including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Roku 3, and new and future Smart TVs and Blu-Ray players. In addition, some recent Smart TVs and Blu-Ray players may receive this based on manufacturer’s update plans. Additional devices, including other Roku boxes, will be added at a later date.

We hope you enjoy the update. For us, this has been one of our biggest and most exciting projects and we are thrilled to finally share it with you!